First, congratulations to the opening week winners in Philadelphia, Rochester, and Edmonton. The early season has some interesting storylines. Who would have expected 17 goals from the Wings to open the season? Tracey Kelusky has already proved his worth in the Wings opening season win. Evan Kirk got his first win, taking the reins over from Brandon Miller. Jordan Hall took over the game with a huge night (five goals). They take off next weekend, but come back with two games in twenty-four hours the following weekend.
Rochester stayed in championship form. It wasn’t a great looking win by the scoreboard, but a win is a win. Champions know how to play and how to win, that’s just what they did. The offense certainly needs to catch pace because Matt Vinc cannot win every game for you. I know Minnesota made some changes, but six goals isn’t what they had to be expecting even in their worst nightmare to open the season.
Edmonton takes a win from Colorado. The Mammoth always seemed to be working on breaking over the top. They have the pieces there to be a challenger, but they just cannot get into that groove that teams get into during the season. The social media airwaves were splashed when Junior tweeted after the game. It was to the effect of needing to get better and to do so quickly. He knows how much time is on the table and he doesn’t want to be anywhere but the top.
So now onto Week Two…
The defending champions will start this off nicely. Limiting a team to six goals is impressive, but was this a flash of something more or a defense that has put up a wall against the rest of the league? Matt Vinc came out as the wall the champs needed in Week One. Will Vinc be able to repeat this performance in his next tilt? The offense needs to pick up the pace to compete with the rest of the league.
Dan Dawson did produce in the first weekend of the season. He had points on 75% of the team’s total production on the evening on two goals, six assists. A good start, but who will step up behind him to get the team in the right direction offensively? Can Walters score some goals, or Keough, or McCready, or Jamieson? Odds are that the team will right the ship offensively and start to produce like they should. As was said in Week One, it is not about who is the leader on the team but who that will be able to be the complimentary players. I think Jamieson’s goals will come, but the thought is that someone else needs to come in to be the surprise player on the Knighthawk’s offense.
(Special note as the Wings play the Knighthawks in Week Two for both teams, but that matchup does not happen until technically Week Three of the season.)
Toronto opens up this weekend and it will be interesting the role Garrett Billings plays with the 2014 Rock. The organization is probably the premier group in the league. After all they just opened up their practice facility not too long ago. Billings hasn’t been the name amongst the headlines that blows the doors open, but he has long been the producer for the team. Its been written that he is taking a role as almost an alternative on the floor, but its hard to imagine him not scoring fifty plus points. After all, he is being asked to take a lesser role after producing over seventy for the team.
Vancouver and Calgary open the season this weekend, both looking to start the season off right. The Stealth is in the unique position of relocating and opening the season to a new fan base in Vancouver. They certainly have the added pressure of opening the new location and new fan base to a win. The organization would certainly enjoy the help of a winning streak to get the fans something to cheer about. (A note of interest, the Canucks play my hometown Flyers as I am writing this. Those fans in BC need something that won’t break their hearts like the Canucks have recently and something much less controversial.)
I think the players to watch are the Gajic brothers. They played together in Denver and they will be asked to shoulder major minutes while the team entrenches themselves in Vancouver. They play different positions, but maybe the transition game is where they will find some easy goals. Cliff Smith is another name that comes to my attention. A name that lacrosse fans have waited for major production from since his days in college, but have failed to really materialize. If he can take some of the offense production this season, expect the Stealth to get back to Championship form. It hasn’t been too many years since the title stayed in Washington for the summer.
Calgary opens the season against the Rock in the beloved Air Canada Centre. Toronto has the home field advantage, but look for the Roughnecks to welcome in 2014 with a strong showing. Curtis Dickson led the team in 2013 in goals. An easy name to make the headlines in the upcoming season as Calgary looks to jump out on the competition in the league and make a statement in the opening day. Production for Dickson in goals has been a sure thing since his days on campus in Newark. The Blue Hen is a goal scorer, so look for his name to lead the team yet again.
The newest addition to the team is Tor Reinholdt, the midfielder for Division II Limestone College. He had a great career in South Carolina and will be a transition player for the Roughnecks. His style of play in college will fit perfectly in the NLL and likely have some production not typical of transition players in the league. He could be a twenty-point producer for Calgary in his rookie campaign. The ability to produce and be crafty with the ball is to his benefit and to the benefit of his team.
Colorado has some work to do on the practice floor that will need to build off for success in Week Two. The offense will look to Adam Jones and John Grant Jr. again to led the way. If those two can produce the way they believe that they can, complimentary scoring will only need to produce a few points for the offense to be successful in a win. Having the opportunity to see Jr. play is something that any NLL fan needs to see before he hangs it up.
Matt McBride is the name that will be the true “Who To Look For” in Week Two. He did have three assists in the opening day loss to the Rush. Shouldering the load were Jr. (three goals) and Jones (four goals) that night. McBride took six shots with five of them on goal. If he can light the lamp for the Mammoth, the team will find the complimentary scoring it needs to be successful in 2014.
Week Two of the 2014 season does not have many teams on the schedule. Calgary opens up, as does the Rock. In fact, Colorado is the only team that played in Week One that will again in Week Two. That will make for the schedule to come alive in Week Three for the majority of the league. Every team will have at least one game under its belt and looking to build momentum early in the season for a run to the playoffs in 2014.
